Medieval hunting books and their interest for natural history

Producción CientíficaEn la introducción se expondrán los tres tipos básicos de caza: defensiva, ofensiva y lúdica. Esta es la que desde antiguo ha sido codificada y registrada en los libros de caza, un género que nace en Grecia y que durante el período grecolatino tiene un mínimo cultivo. Será en la Edad Media cuando el género tenga un mayor desarrollo y surgirá un nuevo tipo de tratado: el de cetrería, un subgénero netamente medieval y que sucumbirá con la aparición de las armas de fuego. Tanto los libros de montería como de cetrería son una interesante fuente de información sobre el medio natural parcamente explorada, máxime cuando dos tratados medievales castellanos, escritos en la primera mitad del siglo XIV, el Libro de la caza de don Juan Manuel y el Libro de montería del rey Alfonso, se cierran con sendas guías de caza en las que se describen, a veces escuetamente a veces minuciosamente, los territorios en los que se podía cazar, en qué época y qué especies eran las más abundantes, e incluso, en el caso de la montería, cómo se debían de disponer las partidas de caza.Protective, utilitarian and sport hunting are the basic types of hunting and will be defined in the introduction. Hunting for pleasure is the only type that has been coded and recorded in the hunting books and treatises, a genre that was born in Ancient Greece but had minimal output during the Greco-Roman period. It was not until the Later Middle Ages that the genre was developed further and a new kind of treatise emerged, devoted to falconry, a distinctly medieval subgenus. As an aristocratic pastime, falconry later declined in popularity, partly due to the refinement of firearms. Books and treatises on falconry and on chasse courant, or chasse par force, are a very interesting source of information for environmental studies, as yet sparsely explored for their significance. During the XIV-century in the Kingdom of Castile, the Libro de la caza by Juan Manuel, a falconry treatise, and the Libro de la montería by King Alfonso, a book on the chasse par force, were written. Although they deal with two different hunting methods, they both consist of guides to the best hunting locations. Some places are just named or briefly mentioned but others are minutely described and also provide other useful information. This includes the quarry most likely to be found there, information about the hunting seasons, dangerous spots and where they are located, and in the case of chasse par force, how and where huntsmen and relays should be most favourably placed